St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-06-09
THADDEUS STEVENS.

Mr.. Henry Little of Kalamazoo,
Michigan, formerly a resident of this
town, now more than ninety years
old, writes some "reminiscences to the
North Star, portion of which we
copy below. Notwithstanding his
many years, Mr.. Little's mind, mem
DRY and penmanship are apparently as
fresh and perfect as ever:
Hon. Thaddeus Stevens was born
April 4th, 1892, at a place about two
miles southeast of the court house in
Danville, Caledonia County, Vermont.
His mother was sister of Dea. Joseph
Morrill,, of Danville, in which town the
Stevens family had great number of
near as we'll as more distant relatives,
the oldest of whom were among the
pioneer settlers of that town, where
they lived and died at a good old age,
who with their numerous descendants
were very respectable people. My
youngest sister was married to a cousin
of Thaddeus Stevens.
When Thaddeus was a few years old,
he with his fathers family, removed
few miles southeast to the adjoining
town of Barnet, where after a few
years sOjOurn Mr.. Stevens died, leav-
ing his family in destitute circum-
stances. 1t was in 1906 or 1907, that
Mrs. Stevens with her children re-
moved to the village of Danville, and
hired small house on the west side
and near the north end of Main street.
Mrs. Stevens had no daughters but had
four sons to wit Joshua, Thaddeus,
Morrill, and AlansOn. Joshua had two
very bad club feet and Thaddeus had
one very bad club foot, while all the
feet of the other two boys were perfect.
Those boys were perpetually annoyed
by their crippled feet, which caused
them much trouble and anxiety. The
Stevens family occupied the rear part
of the house, while the front room was
used for shOemaker's shop. At that
time Joshua could make tOlerably
good shoe, and Thaddeus who was IA
or Is years old, was able to render his
brother some assistance in his work,
every morning and evening, and when
not in school, Joshua and Thaddeus
were always to be found earnestly en-
gagged on their shoe benches; that be-
ing the only way of maintaining the
family, Morrill, and AlansOn being too
y
that purpose. The village of Danville
was not only good place for shoe
makers, but it also had good school
to which the Stevens boys could go,
all of which proved that Mrs. Stevens
acted wisely in moving to the village.
All the Stevens boys attended the
school kept in Il large oldfashioned
village school house, with a fireplace
Of
known in that region. Thaddeus was
formed cripple for life and his physical
organic structure was such that he was
a very frail delicate specimen of hu
manity, besides being low in the depths
of poverty and Obscurity. A boy of IA
thus to be weighed down and almost
crushed beneath so many serious en-
barrassments, seemed to leave but lit
tie hopes that he could ever rise to a
state of great wealth and high distin
guished public favor and renOwn. |
can never forget that poor unfortunate
lame boy, whose many intirmities pre-
vented him from engaging in those
amusing games and sports with the
rest of us.
In 1910 or 1911, Mrs. Stevens and
joining town 6 miles south where was
an academy, into which Thaddeus fl
nally found his way, where he pursued
a course of study to prepare him to en-
ter college, from which he graduated
in due time, and he subsequently stu
died law and entered upon its practice.
During those long years of hard and
persistent study, Thaddeus devoted
some time to teaching school and shoe
making; he also received help from
other sources. At the time Thaddeus
had completed the several branches of
his education, his brother Morrill, had
become a practising physician and was
living in Canada, and his brothers |
Joshua and Alanson were in Indiana,
engaged in the business of tanning |
leather, and his mother was dead and |
the family broken up and scattered
into far distant parts of the country.
A new era had finally dawned upon
Mr.. Stevens, his weight being increased
and his health and strength were i'm
nrnuQh and FOL nrQnarah tn